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Beautiful bride donates her wedding dress to non-profit organisation who make dresses for stillborn babies

LISA Callander-Bone gave her wedding dress to Cherished Gowns for Angel Babies who create dresses for stillborn babies, a cause close to her heart.

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by Jenny Morrison

13:03, 17 Jan 2016Updated13:04, 17 Jan 2016

Lisa Callander Bone of her in her wedding dress

IT was the dress she wore to marry the man of her dreams on one of the most special days of her life.

And when Lisa Callander-Bone’s big day was over, she knew she didn’t want her beautiful dress to simply hang at the back of her wardrobe gathering dust. So she donated it to a cause close to her heart.

Lisa, 43, of Dumfries , who married Colin in January 2013, has lost three babies through miscarriage.

“Losing a child is something that so few people speak about,” said Lisa, who has a 10-year-old son, Finn.

The Cherished gowns made from her wedding dress

“But you still grieve for that baby and for the person they would have grown up to be. When you lose a baby, it must be so important to spend time with that child and dressing that baby is an important part of that bonding and grieving process.

“To be able to pass on my wedding dress, which was so special to me, to someone who might be brought a tiny bit of comfort at such a difficult time, did seem like the absolutely right thing to have done with it.

“And the baby gowns that were made from my dress were so pretty. I felt quite emotional when I saw the care put in to making them. Beautiful.”

Cherished Gowns for Angel Babies was set up by Lynda Garrett, 43, and her friends Megan McKay, 28, and Hayley Mullen, 28.

Lynda had a stillborn baby son 25 years ago. At the time, she didn’t get a chance to hold him in her arms, let alone say a proper goodbye.

Now she is helping ease the grief of other parents who have lost a baby.

And she says they are grateful to not only the Scottish brides who have donated their dresses but the army of volunteer sewers who help transform the gowns into tiny robes for the babies.

Lynda, who is from Newcraighall, Midlothian but now lives in Dover, said: “I was only 16 when I lost my first son, Thomas, and I didn’t get to hold him.

“I went into labour when I was on holiday in Rhodes. I never got to cuddle my son and I didn’t get a photograph of him.

“He was stillborn at 28 weeks and he was just whisked away without me getting a chance to meet him or say goodbye. Things are thankfully very different now.

“Parents are given the chance to spend time with their ‘angel babies’ and say goodbye to them properly.

“All parents should be given the opportunity to dress their baby if they want to and lay their babies to rest in a really special robe.

“Often babies who are born sleeping or pass away shortly after birth can be very small and it can be hard for the parents to find something appropriate to dress their child in.

So we have put together gift boxes that we have given to hospitals that contain really special gowns and the response has been overwhelming.”

Cherished Gowns for Angel Babies was set up after Lynda decided she wanted to donate her own wedding dress to a good cause after marrying Michael in July 2014.

Lynda, who has four children, said: “I was part of a brides’ group on Facebook so I asked the other girls what they were doing with their dresses. Someone got in touch from America and said there was a charity over there where brides allowed their dresses to become funeral robes for stillborn babies. It seemed the perfect thing to do.”

Seamstress Megan, who lives near Lynda, was volunteering for an Australian company who ran a similar service in the UK.

On meeting Lynda, the pair decided to launch their own service for bereaved parents.

Lynda said: “We have a huge army of volunteer seamstresses working for us – many of who have lost a baby. A wedding dress is a dress filled with such love, it makes the perfect material to dress these special babies in.”

The cause is close to Lisa's heart

In less than two years, the company have made more than 9000 gowns from the 1700 wedding, bridesmaid and other special donated dresses.

They also have a team of volunteer knitters who makes little bootees and hats to be gifted to the infants.

Lynda said: “If our gowns can help make such a terrible time just a tiny bit easier for the families who receive them, then it means a lot to us all.”